The dictatorship of political parties in Mexico

The Mexican political system is set up to protect its many political parties over all else.

The Merchant of Silence is one of the best selling Mexican novels since the turn of the century. A work of historical fiction, it traces the life and times of Carlos Denegri, a real journalist who is said to have made his fortune by extorting money and favours from influential figures in Mexican politics by compiling files on their misdeeds and threatening to publish them. He, along with most of the other great journalistic names of the time, was a “soldier of the the PRI,” the party that held power for over 70 years by recruiting people from every walk of life—unions, industry, social movements—to maintain the network of influence that kept it in power.

Many believed that Denegri’s tactics were largely over after the PRI relinquished power and handed the presidency to its right-wing opponent, the PAN, at the end of the 20th century. Still more believed that the arrival of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to the presidency in 2018 on his third attempt marked the definitive end of institutionalised corruption.

A big reason for this belief was that the vehicle through which he ascended to power was new. Its very name—the National Regeneration Movement, or Morena as it is known—represented a break from the past, even as the movement evolved into an official political party in 2014.